--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00003 Date: 04/27/97 From: JIM VENEDAM Time: 08:33am \/To: LINDA TAYLOR (Read 3 times) Subj: Squirrels On (26 Apr 97) Linda Taylor wrote to Jim Venedam... LT> We also have ducks, geese, and a host of other water birds here. LT> Like the blue heron, the white heron, the egrets, ibis, and the LT> asiatic stork. Which is one of the ugliest birds ever created by the LT> gods. Down here, the people who live near Turkey Creek get turkey ducks. They're not very pretty. There's a family of "regular" ducks out behind me. The ones that are called mallards. Pretty green necks. Every now and then, I see a Sandhill Crane. They're endangered. Last year, there were three of 'em. About two months ago, I saw just one. I was hoping he was the "baby" looking for a mate. Jimvee ... Thunder? I didn't hear any thunA*(&#@ NO CARRIER ___Messenger V1.2 [Reg] --- PPoint 2.02 * Origin: Jimvee's Point. Palm Bay, Florida (1:374/46.5) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00004 Date: 04/27/97 From: LINDA TAYLOR Time: 01:58pm \/To: SANDRA PEAKE (Read 3 times) Subj: Snails _@/" I don't think it's so much that doves aren't fast enough to get away from the cars, Sandra, I think it's more like they don't regard cars as being a real threat. I don't know why, but this is the impression I get with the ones that hang around our house. You can run the car right up to them, and they don't seem to worry about being run over or anything. They simply move out of the way in thier own good time. Of course this means that people who don't care enough to stop and let them get out of the way in their own good time hit a few of them every year, but that's life in room wildlife 101A. Still you can buy a whistle for the front of the car to warn wildlife that you're coming. Anyting over five miles an hour produces a whistle that you and I can't hear, but any animal with eardrums can. My car, which used to be my grandmother's, has these on them because she used to do alot of driving in deer country. It does help the deer get off the road at night before they get caught, and mesmirized, by the headlights. These are twin whistles that fit, using those sticky adhesive pads, right onto the front bumper between the two front headlights. You can buy them at nearly every single automotive supply store that I've ever been in. So you can bell the car. (Grin.) Bright Blessings Kat --- GEcho/32 1.20/Pro * Origin: VETLink #60 - 554CES(HR) (1:374/37) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00005 Date: 04/27/97 From: LINDA TAYLOR Time: 02:07pm \/To: JIM VENEDAM (Read 3 times) Subj: Squirrels Turkey ducks are those ducks that sound like a soul in mortal torment when they cry out, and have the bright red patch over their beak? (Grin.) I think these guys must be cousins to the peacock whereas their cry is concerned. The first time I heard it was right outside out house in the canal, and it made my hair stand on end. Took me awhile to get used to some of the waterbird sounds down here. Not to mention the occasional gator waffling in the distance. The first year that our pygmy owls, a screech owl, showed up was after some fires on the other side of the lake. They got burned out of their habitat, and they came to our neighborhood looking for a place to rest, lay their eggs, and raise their young. We had an old palm tree with a woodpecker nest, abandoned, in it, and they took that over. For the next three years they raised two chicks a year in that tree. Finaly, though, the tree fell down, and they had to find another place to lay thier eggs. Our house had rusting screens over the vents in the eaves, so they went up in there to build thier nest. We could hear the babies up in there at night. Then we had to have some work done on the house, and we had to tear out the nest. They've not been back here since, but they have taken over a palm tree in the neighbor's yard. We've been proud to say that this is the one time when nature can get along with us. We love to see them flying in the evening, and we know full well that they are helping to keep the mosquito population down. Besides that they are just plain lovely. One is a soft silvery gray, and the other is a deep golden color. We're far enough off the beaten path out here that we don't have alot of traffic, and we don't have alot of kids hauling bb guns around to shoot the wildlife. Besides that we have yards that are perfect for wildlife to move in every year, and we like to keep it that way. Bright Blessings Kat --- GEcho/32 1.20/Pro * Origin: VETLink #60 - 554CES(HR) (1:374/37) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00006 Date: 04/26/97 From: MARILYN BOISSONEAULT Time: 10:27pm \/To: JANIS FOLEY (Read 3 times) Subj: Birds vs tomatoes! -=> Quoting Janis Foley to Marilyn Boissoneault <=- JF> So what do you use now to keep birds off your tomatoes? I guess I haven't had too much problem the last couple of seasons with birds. It seems to be worse some years than others. Maybe the fact that my neighbors cat likes to nap in my garden has kinda taken care of the problem. Fortunately the cat hasn't decided to use the garden as a litter box! Marilyn ... Cakes: 66 cents Upside Down Cakes: 99 cents ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 --- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000) * Origin: Space Coast REACT, Melbourne FL <407> 255-9069 (1:374/710) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00007 Date: 04/26/97 From: MARILYN BOISSONEAULT Time: 10:27pm \/To: JIM VENEDAM (Read 3 times) Subj: Birds vs tomatoes! -=> Quoting Jim Venedam to Marilyn Boissoneault <=- JV> Hmmmmm I really don't remember. They _don't_ have seeds like an JV> orange or apple. They may have small edible seeds like a sesame JV> seed, but maybe I'm making that up. That's sorta what I was thinking....but since I've never eaten one I don't know where I got that idea. Marilyn ... My IQ test came back negative. ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 --- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000) * Origin: Space Coast REACT, Melbourne FL <407> 255-9069 (1:374/710) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00008 Date: 04/26/97 From: MARILYN BOISSONEAULT Time: 10:27pm \/To: JIM VENEDAM (Read 3 times) Subj: Squirrels -=> Quoting Jim Venedam to Linda Taylor <=- JV> It's funny, how one neighborhood will have birds that you won't JV> see in others. My cousin is about a mile away and she gets a lot JV> of red winged blackbirds. I've never seen one here. I get a lot JV> of sparrows and she hardly ever sees a small bird. I have a few JV> doves, but my mother, 3 miles away, has about 6-7 at a time. JV> We both have bluejays, and there are a lot of cardinals around. JV> I think there are more egrets this year than last. I had a family of red winged blackbirds one year, quite a few years ago, but have never seen any around here since. I get mostly blue jays, woodpeckers, and usually have a pair of cardinals. Sometimes of the year I get other kinds of birds such as sparrows and the goldfinches. I don't get doves at the feeder because I quit feeding their favorite food. They love the small black sunflower seeds, (black oil). I don't care for them at the feeder because they take it over. I get either the large black striped or the large black striped sunflower seeds. I find the bluejays and the woodpeckers a lot of fun to watch. They sorta have personalities. JV> Ah.... So that's why they do it? I thought they might be JV> hearing electricity inside the housing. There's one that used JV> to hang out on the lamp outside my computer room window. JV> There's a big queen palm out there too. Just saw one out there JV> yesterday. He was my first one this year. Sometimes woodpeckers will pick on metal flashing or metal chimneys or whatever to make noise. When they do that on the chimney and you're inside it sure gets your attention! That's one of their ways of attracting a mate. It's called drumming. You'd think they'd get a headache! Marilyn ... Oops... Tried to steal my own tagline! ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 --- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000) * Origin: Space Coast REACT, Melbourne FL <407> 255-9069 (1:374/710) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00009 Date: 04/26/97 From: MARILYN BOISSONEAULT Time: 10:27pm \/To: FOXY FERGUSON (Read 3 times) Subj: Planting Advise, Please. -=> Quoting Foxy Ferguson to All <=- FF> Is there anyone in this echo who can give me some help regarding FF> planting dates in the Florida panhandle area? I'm not from the panhandle, but live in Central Florida. Basically April is the last month for most of your warm season veggies. There are a few you can grow during the summer, lima beans, southern peas, sweet potatoes and okra. August is when you'd need to be ready to start your fall garden. I think you'd be able to grow most anything then. Marilyn ... I want a warm bed and a kind word - and unlimited power. ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 --- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000) * Origin: Space Coast REACT, Melbourne FL <407> 255-9069 (1:374/710) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00010 Date: 04/26/97 From: LINDA TAYLOR Time: 11:01pm \/To: JIM VENEDAM (Read 3 times) Subj: Squirrels Yep. Saw that about the woodpeckers on Florida Today. They tend to get sawdust and such impacted into the nostrils on the beak, and by tapping the metal street lamp they can get the dust out. We have so many kinds of birds out here that it's not funny. We get nearly all of the birds as we live right on a marshy area. Were the Saint John's river goes into Lake Poinsette. We get the pygmy owls, the barn owls, kestrels, doves, cardinals, grackles, and a host of other birds out here all the time. We get the king fishers, and the bats, though these aren't birds in actuality, too. I saw the starlings out over the water today skimming for bugs. You can tell them from other birds by the way their wings are shaped while spread, and the way the tail is split down the middle to form a 'v' shape. We also have ducks, geese, and a host of other water birds here. Like the blue heron, the white heron, the egrets, ibis, and the asiatic stork. Which is one of the ugliest birds ever created by the gods. Also pidgeons, sea gulls, and pelicans. You see them doing a low level flight over the house sometimes. We also have the cormorants who sit on our boat dock roof to dry their wings while they eat their catch of fresh water fish and musels. Of course this doesn't even mention the gators, the turtles, the fish, and the snakes. Bright Blessings Kat --- GEcho/32 1.20/Pro * Origin: VETLink #60 - 554CES(HR) (1:374/37) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00011 Date: 04/26/97 From: LINDA TAYLOR Time: 11:05pm \/To: FOXY FERGUSON (Read 3 times) Subj: Planting Advise, Please. You could probably get away with planting most things right now as even in your area the chances for a bad freeze are pretty much past. We used to live in Mobile Alabama, and I used to plant things about this time. Though sometimes I'd wait till early May. You would be in about area 8 on the zoning map. Sweet Peas, some beans, corn, cucumber, tomatos, pumpkin, squash, melons, and some lettuce will do well right about now. Though you might have to cover if you see a bad cold spell coming. Not much though. You might be able to get away with simply mulching well. You could also plant your asparagus right now too, though I would be sure you have a well salted ground to do it in. Up there the strawberries ought to be just coming on too. Down here it's getting a bit hot for them. Bright Blessings Kat --- GEcho/32 1.20/Pro * Origin: VETLink #60 - 554CES(HR) (1:374/37) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 208 HOME & GARDEN Ref: E5B00012 Date: 04/26/97 From: AL STERN Time: 06:56pm \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Railroad Ties Will salvaged railroad ties last if used lying flat on the ground as the base of a deck? ... `~-._.-~`~-._.-~`~-._.-~`~-._.-~`~-._.-~`~-._.-~`~-._.-~`~-._.-~` --- @dolphin-bbs.com * Origin: Dolphin BBS, W. Melbourne, FL 407-728-5548 V34+/33.6 (1:374/63)